The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

NOW that it is confirmed that the referendum to amend the Constitution will not take place in November, the FNM says the government must regroup and lay out plainly what its next course of action will be.

Cautioning Prime Minister Perry Christie to take the lead in this situation, party chairman Darron Cash said the unorganised manner in which the government has handled preparing the referendum is alarming.

He was speaking at the FNM’s headquarters yesterday.

“The biggest weakness that the country has seen exhibited so far is PM Christie’s unwillingness to lead. He is very much leading from behind.

“He must give the country a sense of what it is that he is committed to. He then ought to make it clear what kind of a time table he is proposing and obviously it has to be a reasonable.

“This leadership from behind and moving based on how the feeling hit you from one way to the next, that is very unsettling for the country because the issue of constitutional reform is not just the discrimination provision. In addition it comes at a time when the country is being beset by a myriad of big ticket decisions that have to be made.”

Mr Cash further criticised Mr Christie for attempting to move forward with a referendum within an unrealistic time-frame in the first place.

“When the FNM did the referendum in 2002, Mr Christie argued that six months was not enough, so that is his standard. The troubling thing that has resulted is because of the Prime Minister’s ineffectual leadership the referendum comes squarely at a time when the debate of Value Added Tax or any other form of taxation moves into high gear.”

On Monday, Constitutional Commission chairman Sean McWeeney said despite the government’s repeated promises, voters will not be heading to the polls to decide on changes to the constitution in November.

With just one month to go from the deadline confirmed by Mr Christie earlier this month, Mr McWeeney explained that it was highly improbable that the country would be ready to vote on the likely issue of gender discrimination.

Mr McWeeny added that Prime Minister Christie was expected to speak on the issue sometime this week, possibly at the reopening of the parliament today.